I can't believe this! 36 Weeks: baby is still packing on the weight at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon)
and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy
covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa,
the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during the
nine-month amniotic bath. Baby swallows both of these substances,
along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called
meconium, will form the contents of his first bowel movement. At
the end of this week, baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term
is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those
born after 42 are post-term.)
So... what this is saying is... after this Saturday, it'd be totally normal for him to come and he'd be considered full-term. Wow. So anytime in the next 1-4 weeks, we could be having a baby.
That's such a terrifying thing to me! Matt is really excited and ready for him to come any day. For me, I just keep thinking of it like this-- any time now I could be faced with the most physically painful and intense experience of my life, which will completely change my life forever. Tell me that isn't just a bit nerve-wracking.
Especially since in the last week, I've had some interesting new pains that seriously have me questioning myself... First, I went to prenatal yoga last week, which is really not much. I actually am finding yoga challenging for the first time though, only took me being 8 mos pregnant (well... bikram yoga is hard but only because it's 104'F and 90 mins long; otherwise, again, it's just stretching). Anyhow I went because my gluts/IT bands in my hips have been hurting at night and I wasn't pushing it but about 75% through the class, I got stuck in some position in which I had sharp pains shooting through the ligaments in my groin when I tried to move even slightly. It was incredibly painful and a little scary. I honestly felt like my bones had solidified into concrete and I couldn't move even an mm without shooting pains. It took me several minutes to get into a normal seated position and I had to put my legs with my hands to move them. Then I was limping the rest of the night. I've never felt anything like that, except... it was a little like when I had tendonitis in my groin when I was 18 and running competitively in h.s. I'm assuming I just aggravated the ligaments/tendons that are already working on stretching out. Sleeping that night was horrible but by the next morning, I felt barely any soreness.
But then, the next night, I got up during one of my 5 pee breaks (every 1.5hrs) and as soon as I stood up, it felt like a bowling ball was dropped onto all my lower organs, causing me to double over groaning. It hurt so bad I couldn't stand up, and I thought I was going to pee myself, so I had to hobble to the toilet. Then it was so sore the rest of the night and I struggled to sleep and turn over. It really made me wonder- will I be able to handle contractions? Cause whatever the heck that was, I do NOT want to repeat it. Since then, it's happened a few more times but not to that severity. I'm guessing it was just shifting his weight as I stood, and/or he's working on dropping more into my pelvis. If I take 30-60 secs to first sit up, then sit on the edge of the bed, then very slowly rise, I don't have the feeling.
This weekend, we tried to do the rest of the prep work for baby-- finished hanging things in his room, washed the rest of his outfits and put away, organized some things laying about, installed the carseat, started packing a bag for the hospital, bought a few more items we felt like we needed before his arrival...
I was really excited for this weekend because we were supposed to have some maternity shots taken, but our photographer apparently is getting sick so we have to postpone. Hopefully we can take some before I actually have this kid. I've been trying to book with her for a month.
So my FB rant about the fire dept. was because we were told in our childbirth class (and had read a few places) that most people install carseats incorrectly. Yes, the delivery nurses who walk us out from the hospital will briefly check it but they won't fix it for you. We heard that the fire dept. will check that we installed it correctly on the last Wed. of the month. Well the last Wed of Jan, we didn't have a carseat yet and if Carsen comes early enough, we might not make it to the last Wed of Feb. So Matt had called to see if they'd be willing to just check it for him if he stopped by, and was told by a very irritated woman that's it's "people like [us] who make [her] job harder and make [her] work longer than required." Umm, okay, well, we were just trying to be safe for our newborn baby but don't worry about it. I just find it irritating how rude she was. Apparently though she gives a little demo/lecture about how to do it so she thinks that takes some time. Matt had already read the instruction manual and attempted it (seemed easy to us) so how much time would it really take her? He ended up talking to someone else who looked at it this morning and verified that yes, most people do it wrong but Matt had done it mostly right and she showed him how to tighten it (which we were having trouble with).
Well, as of our appointment this morning, I'm now 80% effaced (up from 50% last week) and 2.5cm dilated (up from 1cm) so progress is being made. Again, this is apparently normal and there's still no telling when he'll arrive but she said again that she doesn't think I'll go to March 10 or past it. And again, he could be either a week older than we think or he could just be a long/tall baby. We'll just have to wait and see. Apparently I could stay where I am for weeks or continue to slowly make progress. And I might not drop til the very end so I guess I shouldn't hold my breath for that (although I am holding my breath to a degree, being that he's putting pressure on my diaphragm).
In light of having 1-4 weeks left, here's my reflection on things I will and won't miss about being pregnant...
(The Short List of) Things I'll Miss About Being Pregnant:
* feeling him move inside me and knowing that's a sign he's healthy
* the strange/cool changes of my body; as weird as they are, it is interesting
* thinking that I can almost eat whatever I want with the excuse that I'm pregnant (this is not actually true, particularly in practice)
* asking Matt to help me with socks and shoes, and whatever else I need, and having a good reason for not being able to do so myself
* having people notice the exciting thing that's going on for me (people really don't comment as much as I thought they would, and no one I don't know has tried to touch me, but I feel like people stare at me much more often now, which doesn't bother me... I don't particularly enjoy it but it reminds me a little of living in Southern Texas and being a minority with my blonde hair and blue eyes and the attention that draws. It's just... interesting).
* having something so exciting and terrifying and mystifying to look forward to
* the anticipation of what it will be like
* not worrying about a period
Things I Won't Miss About Being Pregnant:
* heartburn and popping Tums
* indigestion
* feeling like I'm unable to get that last, satisfying amount of air in
* not being able to fit into my clothes and feeling like most of my outfits are uncomfortable in some way
* fighting my feelings of looking huge/chubby/gross and worrying about how much weight I've gained
* feeling guilty any day that I don't walk/workout
* all the books/materials I feel like I have to read in advance
* not knowing when he'll come and knowing I'm not really prepared even if I'm as prepared as I can be
* all the new, weird pains that come and go
* having to eat such small portions
* avoiding juice, raw broccoli, usually chocolate, spicy foods...
* avoiding sushi and being careful about non-pasteurized cheeses
* not getting to have a beer just once in awhile
* feeling guilty about not eating totally clean and/or taking Tums or Tylenol (because it affects not just me)
* having 20mins of walking wear me out
* having to pee every 4mins while working out
* having to pee every 1.5hrs at night regardless of how much water I've drank
* when he really is moving up a storm; it's pretty distracting and not exactly comfortable
* shortened baths because he starts squirming and I worry that the water is too hot
* the anticipation of what it will be like
* intimacy accomodations
* lack of libido
* having to roll over so many times at night because I'm uncomfortable and/or sleeping sitting slightly upright when all else fails
* not lying on my back
* the 1st trimester exhaustion
* the 1st trimester nipple pain
* the 3rd trimester painful-to-the-touch feeling in my upper abdomen
Haha, someone asked me about my "glow" during pregnancy... I dunno, I wouldn't say I never felt a glow, but I wouldn't say it's a permanent or frequent state either.
That's not to say that I'm totally ready to be done being pregnant and have this baby today... I'd rather he waits another 3 weeks (if not the full 4 til his due date). Or 2 at least.
